Brew city: Urban Fantasy
by Mr. Aanonymous
Summary: Most people walk through life with no direction. Lord knows I do. Our best guide is our interests. They make us who we are. But there's a fine line between interest and obsession. When you can't see that line, people get hurt. Always. The only questions are how many, how bad, and who will stop it. Before this is over, I think i'll find those answers.
1. Chapter 1

_"Do, do, do... Okay, lets get started." Devin whistled, taking his seat as he smiled to the camera, grabbing the sack of papers lying on the arm rest. "Wassup, this is your man Scott yall! I'm here to- _huh?_"_

_Devin stopped himself as he checked his phone, tilting his head and dropping the script as he read the text._

_"Ooookay, Devin's the name and getting into acting is my new game... W-wow, I-I'm bad at winging it." Devin stammered, looking everywhere but the camera before laughing out a nervous chuckle. "Scott must be a lead in another show on the network... Blah, blah, blah."_

_Devin smiled in relief as he read another text._

_"R-right, old show. Good idea." Devin nodded. "Ridonculous Race isn't coming back. Kinda bummed about that. Really bummed, honestly. I had a great time. Made some good friends. Met the love of my life... realized it, more like. Double R had powerhouse ratings, for the life of me I don't know why they canceled it."_

_Devin focused his gaze back to the camera after reading another text._

_"I'm on a new show now, '_Urban Fantasy'_. No double alliteration, but still an awesome title right?" Devin asked, smiling at the camera for a moment before shrugging. "No clue what its about- oh, wait. Urban and fantasy. Right there in the title. I guess those are themes... Full disclosure, they came to me. I thought it sounded like fun. Of course they didn't tell me I was going solo until after I signed."_

_Devin shook his head at another text._

_"Show biz, am I right?" Devin asked. "I know i made it sound bad, but don't get me wrong. I'm excited. No real details, but come on! **Urban fantasy**. Maybe its about the journey of a self made man, or a struggling artist. Personally I'm hoping for a traveling magician. They're so cool when you see them on the street. But in all seriousness, my last show ended with me in a full body cast."_

_Devin smirked at the camera as he finally texted back._

_"Top it." _

Raft clove: Urban fantasy

Chapter 1- Pilot

"Hello. This is Chang, Devin Chang." Devin announced, only receiving static from the door's buzzer. The door's phone plate was implanted on the side of the faded green brick wall of the building, less than a foot from the bright red metal door. Taking out his phone to check and scrolling through the texts to make sure he had the location right, both the apartment number and street address. Readjusting his back pack and setting his duffel, Devin shrugged. "Did you mean afternoon, the e-mail didn't say-"

The red front door suddenly cracked open with a loud buzzing sound coming from just next to the handle, cutting Devin off. Giving a happy shrug, Devin walked in down the hall and a few flights of stairs of the apartment building until he found his door. After knocking on it, the door opened and a pudgy, tired looking man opened the door. While he was about a head taller than Devin himself he was a fair deal wider with a bit of a gut, shaggy red hair with a matching scruffy beard. He was wearing nothing but a worn looking white T-shirt with faded red sweat pants. He looked like he just got out of bed.

"Uhhh, Justin?" Devin asked.

The red haired man gave a low groan. His half opened blood shot eyes staring off into space as he walked back into the apartment, leaving the door open for Devin behind him. Shrugging, Devin fallowed with his stuff. The apartment was fairly standard, if a bit pricey. It was a three bed, two bath. The living room was just big enough for a couch, a side chair, and a TV in the front. Just like what Devin saw on the website. Though, for some reason the couch was flipped over.

A few feet in, Devin dropped his stuff to the side wall before he stepped on something. Under his foot Devin found none other than a hot pink sports bra. Looking around, Devin saw a few more pieces of discarded clothes, all of which were girls clothes. More than one girl's clothes at that given the one and a half pair of pink and white running shoes Devin could see scattered around the living room. Another of which was white and black striped yoga pants that were half covered by the couch as Sam flipped it back up before collapsing on to it. His face buried in the cushion on one end, his feet hanging off the other. Devin suppressed a laugh as he heard bearded guy snoring after a few seconds.

Shaking off the laughs, Devin tilted his head at the thought. Either he had a girl roommate he didn't know about, or the snoring guy face down on the couch had himself a fun time with someone the night before. Two someone's by the double pairs of different sized girls clothes laying around. Deciding not to think further into it as he shrugged before grabbing his stuff again to move to the cleaner side of the room, only to find the missing running shoe under his carry-on bag.

After putting away his stuff again, Devin grabbed the pairs of girls shoes and put them on the side-chair next to the couch. Picking up the hot pink sports bra he stepped on off the ground, Devin heard the door open on the right side of the room and out walked a couple girls who looked like they also just got out of bed... and half naked.

The taller one looked to be about eye level with Devin himself. She was on the thinner side, her leanness seemed to be only enhanced by her darker complexion, her ebon shoulder length hair in straight hanging dreadlocks. The other girl had paler skin, a little on the pudgy side like the guy sleeping on the couch, was about a head shorter than Devin, and her shoulder length black hair was all bunched up on one side. Devin could guess what side side she was slept on. Both girls were in a state of undress. The taller girl was in only an olive green V-neck shirt that reached a little below her waist. The shorter girl was in a simple blue hoody, since it was a bit small for her, it wasn't zipped father than her belly button.

Walking out of the room, one yawning and the other rubbing an eye, instantly stopped as they spotted Devin. Devin himself turned to the side, the girls still in his vision, but he didn't look directly at them. Devin's face reddened as he remembered he was holding the sports bra he stepped on from before.

"Uh," Devin turned back, trying not to stare at the girls as he held out the sports bra. "I was cleaning up."

"Ummm, like thanks." The taller girl said, pulling the V-neck shirt down to her thighs, trying to cover herself. The shirt itself already comically large on her, barely held on to the girl's shoulders. Thus showing Devin ample cleavage over her considerable chest, that Devin did _not_ mind noticing, as she walked over around the couch. Around the sleeping guy, who's snoring stopped when the door was opened. "Sorry, we didn't know there was anyone else here."

"I could wait outside if you want." Devin suggested, grabbing duffel bag again. "No problem."

"Its fine." The shorter girl said, zipping up the hoody, which if anything showed even more than when it was unzipped. As it was now skin tight on the girl, especially around the chest, her nipples pressed against the fabric. The rest emphasizing the larger gal's generous curves. "We'll be leaving soon."

"We're already running late for work."

The taller girl said, sliding on the sports bra through the V-neck. Devin looked away again, if anything else trying not to look creepy, but couldn't help enjoying whatever view he could. Devin tried to focus on anything else, but there wasn't much in the small room, aside from seeing the shorter girl find a pair of pink and black yoga pants and slipped them on. With no options, Devin just shut his eyes and counted to ten.

"_Sooo_, you two and Justin have fun last night?" Devin opening his eyes. The shorter gal now fully dressed, if still in the tight hoody. The taller girl now wore the shirt around her waist like a long skirt, the large neck opening just small enough to stay on, the hot pink sports bra tight against her chest. "He was barely awake when he let me in."

"Um, what?" The girls looked at Devin confused. He pointed at the couch beside them. The girls look startled for a moment at the sleeping guy, still faced down on the couch, before confusion returned to their faces. "We had no idea he was there."

"We were with his roommate down the hall." Blue hoody said, pointing to the room they just came out of. "Still sleeping like an angel."

"Well, uh, sorry to disturb ya. Sooo, do you guys live here or..." Devin asked, turning from redbeard on the couch to the girls. Devin grabbed the sneakers on the lazy boy, handing them off before gesturing at their obvious gym clothes. "Here you go."

"Haha, no. We met JayJay at the gym." Sports bra shook her head as she grabbed her sneakers. "If we knew he had roommates we would have invited him to our place. Sorry."

"I-its fine..." Devin stammered shrugging, looking away for a moment before turning back to the girls. "JayJay?"

"It was on his name tag" Sports bra shrugged, her and blue hoody continued looking around the rest of the room. "Its cute, but don't let that fool ya. He's such a naughty boy."

Devin awkwardly nodded as he turned away, he knew what they were looking for and walked over to the far end of the couch, redbeard's feet hanging over the yoga pants that were stuck under the back leg. Lifting up and setting down the couch as quietly as he could, Devin held his breath more to avoid the smell of redbeard's feet then for the lift itself as he pulled out and held up the yoga pants.

"Looking for this?"

"Thank you,"

Sports bra smiled, shimmering into the stretchy tight pants, the olive colored V-neck around her waist swayed around like a hula skirt. Devin probably should have looked away… but the girl was good looking and the scene wasn't really something people see everyday. It was then through the corner of his eye that Devin saw the door the girls first came out of crack open. The guy in the room stopped frozen, his mouth still open from yawning, as he spotted the girls.

"Sooo," Blue hoody greeted, the sweatshirt now unzipped revealing a white tank top, Devin had no idea where it came from. Blue hoody waved as she slipped into the matching pink and white shoes before pointing behind her to the door, the guy silently and slowly closed his mouth. "How do you know JayJay?"

"Roommate, or will be." The guy's gaze switched to Devin, shaking his head with shushing gesture as he slowly shut his door closed. Devin smiled at this, trying to hold in a laugh. "Haven't met your guy yet, but how'd you meet?"

"Oh wel-"

"_Hhheeyyy_..." Redbeard yawned. "Quiet down."

"Sorry." Blue hoody whispered at redbeard. As she did, Devin felt a faint tingling coming up his hand from his bag. Lifting it up, Devin saw a hello kitty decorated smart phone vibrating on the floor. Holding it up so the girls could see it, Blue hoody bit her lip as she grabbed it, wincing at the screen. "_OMGod_! We are so late."

"Oh crap! That's like the third time this week."

Sports bra cringed as she ran to the door, only to trip and falls as the olive green shirt got tangled around her ankles. Sports bra jumped back up to her feet only to almost fall back down again before Devin managed to catch her. Holding Sports bra up with one hand as he pulled off the shirt from her ankles with the other, but once Sports bra had one leg free she kicked the shirt off the other and right onto redbeard's face, though that last bit was probably by accident. Redbeard hadn't even noticed as he just kept on snoring under it.

"Key's. Key's." Blue hoody asked, desperately looking around the room, getting down on her knees to peak under the furniture. Blue hoody even tipped over the lazy boy, only to find balls of lint. "Where are the keys?"

"I don't know. I don't know. I don't know." Sports bra panicked, all but bouncing on the balls of her feet. Devin tried not to notice how her actual sports bra was bouncing up and down with her. Pulling his gaze away, Devin pulled out his own phone from his pocket. "We need this job. What are we going to do."

"_Mmmmarrppphhh_." Redbeard chuffed, turning to his side on the couch, completely oblivious to everything going on.

"Ummm, any chance you guys didn't drive here and just called a ride?" Devin asked, both the girls immediately stopped what they were doing and stared at him, wide eyed with blank stares. Devin shrugged as he held up his phone to them. "Well, uber app. Should be outside in a few minutes."

Surprisingly, the girls didn't say another word as they all but jumped out the front door.

"They're gone buddy." Devin smiled, speaking just loud enough down the hall not to wake up redbeard on the couch. "You can come out."

"Holy crap." The door opened, and out walked the anti-redbeard. The guy was a little shorter than Devin, messy dark brown hair, clean shaven face, along with a healthy tan complexion… Oh and he had a full blown six pack, well defined shoulder and arm muscles and Devin would swear that his pearl white teeth looked like they were glowing. Devin wouldn't have been surprised that under the olive green sweat pants were just as toned leg muscles. He looked like the lost Greek god of body spray commercials. Quite a contrast to the hairy pudgy pale dude passed out on the couch. "I thought they'd never leave, and they took my hoody too. Great… was my favorite shirt." \

"Couldn't have gone that far." Devin shrugged, smirking at the guy as he walked into the living room. "I could call'em back if you wa-"

"No no, that's cool." The guy shook his head as he held out his hand, Devin shook it. "J-just a hoody... that my mom gave me. Anyway, I'm Justin. I put out the add. Sorry you ran into that. Lost track of time."

"Devin. So I'm guessing those _aren't_ the roommates I don't know about?" Devin asked, smiling as he pointed to redbeard still passed out on the couch. Devin tilted his head as he walked back over to redbeard and pulled off the shirt over his face. "Believe this is yours."

"Thanks." Justin nodded, grabbing the shirt only to cringe as he saw a glob of slobber right in the middle, probably the part that was over redbeard's mouth. Justin sighed as he tossed it. "_Perfect_, but yeah. We got another roommate. Probably should'ah mentioned that in the add. Dude's name is Sam, cool guy. He works nights, you'll barely see him. He actually got here about an hour before you did."

"Oh, poor guy. I feel bad for waking him up." Devin turned to the sleeping redbeard. "Did you not hear the buzzer?"

"Oh I did." Justin nodded. "I've actually been up since before Sam came home. But I was smothered between those two. Couldn't risk waken'em up. Swear to god! First time I ever wanted to put ear plugs in."

"They didn't seem that bad."

"Cuz they were in a hurry." Just shook his head. "Give'm twenty minutes, you'd rip you're ears off. Its what I get for bringing girls from work home."

"Let me guess." Devon sarcastically tapped his chin. "A door to door nutritionist, trying to educate people the benefits of being a couch potato."

"W-what?" Justin tilted his head confused at Devon as he pointed to his bare stomach. "N-no, what part of these abs told you that? That doesn't even sound like a real jo- joke. Its a joke. Got it. Ya might wanna work on it. Had to think for a bit to get it."

"I'll keep that in mind for my stand up."

"Let me lose my ticket to your free improv skit in advance." Justin shrugged. "You want some coffee?"

"Ha." Devon snorted, nodding as he fallowed _A__bs_ out of the living room and into the kitchen. Leaving redbeard alone to sleep in peace. The kitchen itself was fairly small, which was no real surprise. Just enough room for a sink, a stove, and a shelf with a mini-fridge taking up a third of it."S-sure."

"But yeah, I'm a personal trainer." Justin explained pulling out a couple of mugs from the top shelf and setting one in the coffee maker on the second shelf as he turned it on. "I got off work as their yoga class was wrapping up. You know the story. We got talking, one thing led to another, yadda-yadda. I landed in my apartment with two lovely ladies with me somehow coming to regret it the next morning."

"_Wow!_" Devon chuckled, unable to hold back his laughs. The sheer upbeat tone, and the blunt way he was saying it, made it impossible as the half naked walking deodorant model grabbed his now filled mug out and replaced it with empty one. "I don't really know what to say to that. Ever thought of writing your adventures down and giving it to a publicist?"

"I'm sure it would bite me in the ass later." Justin shrugged, ignoring Devon's joke as he took a sip of his cup, grabbing Devon's mug and handing it to him. "Hope you like green leaf espresso."

"Awesome! My new favorite." Devon said, grabbing the coffee mug. "I'm sorry french vanilla. You'll always have a special place in my heart."

"Y-you're one of those 'glass half full' types aren't ya, Dev?"

"Meh." Devin answered, looking down at the dark drink in his hand, shrugging and took a swig. To Devin's own surprise didn't taste that off, the coffee was just less sweet than he was used to. "J-just trying to make a good first impression. I'm sure I'll be less insufferable after we get used to each other."

"Ha!" Justin laughed, almost spitting out his last sip, thankfully without spilling anything. "Dude, you're fine. The very fact that you're trying means you're a step up over my other roommates. Yeah, Sam's cool, but when we see each other, one of us is a sleep. Best I get out'ah him is a yawn."

"_Works for me_.*" Devin yawned jokingly, before finishing off the last of the coffee in his mug. "Can I get another cup of that?"

"S-sure," Justin snorted, refilling Devin's mug. "You can't tell a joke but you can make me laugh. I just might not lose that ticket."

"Thanks." Devon nodded, dinging his mug against Justin's own. "Cheers."

"Not to pry on the first day, but'ah... its a pretty weird time to move." Devin set down his mug, but before he could so much as open his mouth something on his face must have answered for him as Justin winced, and it wasn't for the coffee. "Bad break up."

"Yuup," Devin shrugged. "Wasn't working between me and her. Moving out just seemed like the right call."

"Oh that sucks." Justin laughed, a sad tone in his voice. "Its always the girl who gets the best stuff in the break, but the whole apartment? Damn. Hope she found a roommate fast."

"Meh," Devin tilted his head, drinking the last of his second cup. "She was my neighbor before we moved in. Can I get another?"

"Sure," Justin nodded as he refilled Devin's mug. "That's why I never hook up with anyone in my building... they'd know where I live."

"What about those two-"

"A couple of girls who can't remember my name, pretty sure they won't remember my address." Justin shrugged, handing Devin back his mug before pulling out bottle of brown liquid from inside a cheerios cereal box. "Want some irish spice with that?"

"Nah, I'm cool." Devin shook his head, before taking another swig of his mug. "I got work soon."

"You got any pics of your ex?" Justin asked.

"Just on my phone." Devin answered. "Why?"

"Damn!" Justin cursed, his teeth showing. "One of the drawbacks of the digital age, you don't get the satisfaction of burning pics of your ex. So much as post anything bad about them online, at best you a creep."

"Never seen that done in real life." Devin said, ignoring the last part of his speech. "The burning pictures thing."

"Got the idea from a rom-com myself." Justin admitted. "Its surprisingly satisfying. Have the perfect way to do it too. Hint. It involves alcohol, and not the drinking kind."

"Uhhh, what?" Devin asked, as Justin knelled down and opened up the cabinet under the sink. "You gonna dip the pictures in rubbing alcohol, the kind you find in first aid kits?"

"H-hold on. Hold on. Justin said, digging further into the cabinet. As he did, Devin just shrugged and finished off his coffee before pouring himself a fourth cup. By the time Justin finally gave up, over half his upper body was under the sink. Standing up, Justin shrugged, disappointed. "Huh, must be in my room."

"Its cool." Devin took another sip. "I don't really have any pics to burn anyway. Well aside from my phone, but ah..."

"Its a trick, man." Justin folded his arms at Devin. A lil something I whip out at parties. My version of a first impression. Thought I'd brighten your morning with a little panache. I can still get it out'ah my room if you want."

"Nah, its cool." Devin said, finishing off his mug before showing Justin the time on his phone. "Besides, I gotta get going."

"Meh, good point." Justin nodded, heading out the kitchen back toward his room. "Mark my words Dev, you'll see my trick before you know it Fam."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Okay, please sign here." Devin said, pointing at the bottom of his smart phone's screen before handing it off the large orange cylinder package to the customer. "Here you go."

"Good, this came in just in time." The customer said finishing off his signature and handing back the phone, which Devin noted had no tip added. Devin grew a lopsided frown at the customer as he pulled off the plastic covering the package. The customer himself had a full beard and his long brown hair pulled into a man-bun on the back of his head. He was about the same size as Devin himself, if a little taller, but he was much, much thinner. The well defined arm muscles sticking out of his T-shirt didn't do much to help. "Camping season is just around the corner."

Man-bun soon gave up on trying to pull off the plastic, and just before he was about to use his teeth, he walked back behind the counter and pulled out a pair of scissors. As he did, Devin looked around the rest of the shop. It was a military surplus store, the kind of shop that sells old equipment and civilian cleared weapons. There were racks upon racks of different types of uniforms spread out along the store, some going back decades and couldn't still be in modern use. Old equipment ranging from tents to boots laid out on top of the shelves. Even a small section dedicated to shiny and colorful medals that Devin knew nothing about.

All of it was old, all of it was used, judging by the wear and tear each piece of merchandise. Even the weapons hidden behind glass cases told as much. Ranging from the smallest faded Swiss army knife, to the rusted swords, to the worn but clean pistols. The last of which, Devin noted, there was plenty of.

"So, uhh whats it like working here?"

"Meh," Man-bun shrugged, the scissors back on the desk, unscrewing the top of the package and pulling out what looked like a handful of grey rocks. Setting them down in a bowl next to rolls of green fiber cord on one side, and a small shelf of colorful pamphlets on the other. Dropping the package into an open filing cabinet, Man-bun sat back down in the swivel chair behind him in a slump, doing two full spins before he pulled out a snickers bar. "Its a store. You worked in one, you worked in'em all. I'm only here because of employee discounts."

"Okay." Devin nodding at the army rain coat, which the rack labeled 'GORE-TEX' for some reason. "There is some cool stuff in here."

"Yup, each and everything in here is tried and tested. Meant for utility and endurance. Unlike those lousy sporting good stores." Man-bun said bitterly, biting off a chunk of his candy bar. "Won't find anything there but glorified costumes, meant to be used once and forgotten about in your closet. Sure, you'll pull off a millennial Elmer Fudd at a Halloween party, but none of it'll keep you alive in the field. Especially during winter."

"I'lllll have to take your word on that." Devin shrugged, taking a step back. Eager to look at anything else, Devin took a better look at the row's of pamphlets sitting next to the bowl of stones he just delivered. Picking up the dark green one in the middle, Devin saw what looked to be balding college professor in bad zombie make up chasing someone out of frame, a giant foam ax on one side, and an orange paintball gun on the other pointed at him. "Zombie park… sounds like a great movie title. Just spitball'n here, but maybe starring Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrellson. Something with a banjo."

"You laugh, but Z-squad's been doing that before the movie." Man-bun pointed at the pamphlet Devin was holding. "You can probably guess which holiday we do it."

"Z-squad?"

"Think doomsday preppers with a zombie theme." Man-bun explained, finishing off his candy bar before pulling out some beef jerky. "Really brings in the kids. Believe it or not, they're in pretty much every major city."

"Huh," Devin asked, setting down the pamphlet where he found it. "They got a TV show?"

"If we were a bunch of crazy survivalists, held up in the woods waiting for a zombie apocalypse maybe." Man-bun smiled at Devin, he knew what the delivery boy was implying. "Think boy-scouts but way cooler, and instead worrying about being molested by the a creepy scout master in the woods, you worry about getting your face bitten off in undead suburbia."

"Wow," Devin laughed. "Dark, but I'll be damned if its not hilarious."

"And true." Man-bun nodded, finishing off his jerky. "You never know when those dead eyed freaks are gonna get ya."

"Ha." Devin laughed even harder. "So which season is your favorite? I admit I haven't really kept on with the show... they've been on for a whil-"

"I actually hate those shows." Man-bun shook his head. "I mean sure, the plots are...whatever. But I've only seen a handful of the cast actually preparing for a zombie hoard. And the movies-Gah. They don't even try."

"Makes sense." Devin nodded. "Kinda like talking to a solider about battles in war mov-"

"Don't even joke about that in here man." Man-bun shushed, looking over Devin's shoulders to the customers shuffling through his store, to check if they noticed. Apparently, none of them did. A lot of the customers looked like Man-bun, full beards with their hair long, pretty in shape with all their movements stiff. Devin could only guess that at least a good chunk of them were ex-military. "Once you get them started they'll never leave."

"Makes sense. Like giving an engineer a star wars comic." Devin smiled, holding back a laugh, before taking another look at the zombie park brochure. "So, every Halloween?"

"Yup, but if you don't wanna wait that long to try it out." Man-bun said, reaching over the counter and pulling out another pamphlet. Grabbing it Devin could see it was sapphire blue, spotted with stars and in the center was gray wide rimmed pointy hat with a silver 'W3' stamped on it. "That's coming up soon."

"Sooo," Devin raised his eyebrow confused. "Willie's winter wonderland?"

"Close. Its a fantasy flavored comic-con. Its in Raft clove this year." Man-bun explained. "Ever since that show with the pointy chair came out, zombies are part of the action. They call'em 'wights' now, but Z-squad's got a booth. We've even got a 'round table' roundabout where fans can slaughter those dead eyed freaks."

"Well, I've never been to comic-con."

"Don't give your hopes up, fantasy only. Gotta tell ya, the only 'wand' I'll be using is this finger." Man-bun gave a rude gesture. "_Magic_. Takes all the fun out. I kill my undead with bullets, thank you very much."

"Fantasy shows. Zombie shows." Devin smiled. "You got another one so I win 'ruined genre that won't die' tick tak toe?"

"Meh." Man-bun shrugged. "There's a million police procedurals. They always sucked but won't die."

"Wonder if there's a fantasy cop show with zombies." Man-bun stared up at the delivery boy and cringed before taking out a small silver flask and poured what was in it into his coffee on the desk. Devin tried not to laugh as he saw Man-bun take a swig of it and cringed again, fallowed by panicked blinks and an exhale. Biting his lip, Devin pointed at the bowl. "How much?"

"You going camping?" Man-bun asked, setting down his drink. "Its a fire stone. Rub it against anything and -_phoom_, sparks. They're not good for much else."

"I could always use a pet rock." Devin shrugged. "Besides, I was taught that you always buy something when you go into a store and a better chance of repeat business if they sell."

"Okay, but can I ask a favor?" Man-bun asked, his tone jovial and his words a little slurred as he grabbed one of the fire stones from the bowl, but apparently still sober enough to catch after tossing it into the air. Devin wouldn't have been surprised if the coffee wasn't the first thing he poured his flask into."If you go to the fantasy con thing, please try to find the most annoying dungeon masturbater in there."

"Bit of a tall order." Devin smiled back. "Finding 'that guy'."

"Fair enough." Man-bun nodded, pointing at Devin. "How about a guy doing pretend spells a lot?"

"Why?"

"_Lightning bo-_" Man-bun said, winding back his hand holding the firestone, while not half way through the first word, Man-bun shaped his other hand shaped like a pistol and made a shooting motion. "_**Bang**_."

XXXXXXXXX

"Okay. Okay… Almost g-got it." Abs whispered, his head out the window as he backed into the parking space. Devin looked out his window and covered his ears, waiting for the screeching sound of sheet metal scraping together, only to be met with silence and an awkward bump as they hit the curb. "Nailed it!"

Devin could only shake his head and smirk as he heard the sound of sheet metal against sheet metal he was waiting for, thankfully it was only a smack instead of a screech as the drivers side door hit the car next to them.

"Yup." Devin nodded, looking out his window and saw that his own door was only a few inches to the car on his side. "Ya nailed it."

"Well then." Abs smiled, closing his door shut before she slid between the two front seats to the back. Fallowing Abs, Devin shielded his eyes as Abs opened the rear doors and flooded the vehicle with light before they both jumped out. "Careful man."

"Justin?" Devin asked, turning back around tilting his head at the sight of the large van squeezed between two compacted cars, and from the new angle looked like they had even less room than Devin thought. "I still don't know how you sandwitched that thing in there. If I didn't know better, I'd say you slathered the van in butter or something."

"I know right." Abs cheered, closing the van's rear doors shut as he walked around one of the compact cars to the meter on the sidewalk. "Nailed it."

"Hey Just," Devin asked, fallowing Abs and finding him digging through his pockets. "...You forgot to bring the quarters, didn't ya?"

"...Maybe. Weird thing, I always carry around a silver dollar." Abs shrugged, pulling out his necklace from under his shirt, and in its center was a shining polished chrome disk. "You'd think it'd be lucky."

"You sure its cool to take out the company car like this?" Devin asked, tapping the yellow 'A' in the purple stripe on the van's hood. "Pretty sure all-time fitness is going to have your balls in a vice for this."

"Duuude, its cool. Its totally cool." Abs nodded with a grin as he pulled out a card from his pocket. The card was green, holes punched in neat rows, and a sandwich in the center. "Its company policy that if personal trainers get enough holes stamped in their 'client above and beyond card' they get to take the van out, no questions asked. It took me years to build this up. Quite frankly, you're lucky to be along for the ride."

"Uh-huh," Devin smiled, pointing at the card. "And from the looks of it, you also get a free five dollar foot long. I thought they discontinued that."

"Good eye." Abs smirked, grinding his teeth as he put the card away. "But man, if there's anything I learned as a personal trainer, the less questions asked, the happier everyone is."

"Makes sense I guess, but I got three for ya." Devin shrugged, holding up three fingers with one hand as he pointed to Ab's belt with the other. "Why are you wearing a fanny pack, and why does a gym need a company van?"

Justin was wearing what looked to be the same olive green V-neck shirt the girl had been wearing as a dress that morning and Sam accidentally used as a napkin, Devin could only hope that he washed it or it was just a matching shirt, blue jeans and a pair of black shoes. Now thanks to pulling out his necklace his silver dollar pendant shined in the gleaming street light. All of that seemed fine, but for some reason the personal trainer and lost Greek god of spray tan commercials was wearing a fanny pack that matched his V-neck. If he was wearing an old film camera, aviators, and a fisher's hat Abs would look like a stock tourist in an action film.

Though, Devin had to admit he wasn't much better. The delivery boy was wearing his vintage earth Kingdom shirt and an old pair of jorts. Devin probably wouldn't have made it past the first audition.

"Sorry bro, no spoilers for the fanny-P." Abs smirked, both hands pointing toward his a... Devin could only hope he meant the pack. "Second, a number of reasons. The gym gets hired by companies for all kinds of stuff: trust building camps, self-defense classes- I personally teach Tai Chi. Just last year, the city sponsored charity group workouts at Dyson Memorial park. That's just the usual stuff, one time the military hired us for a spin class at their base."

"You know tai chi?" Devin asked.

"Its a great way to start and end the day, but you're focusing on the wrong thing. When you're the only dude everyone around is looking at, the bright morning sun shining off your muscles-" Abs gestured down his arms and, well, abs. "telling people what to do through the speakers while pump up music is blasting in the background... I might've taught a class on fitness but the real workout was right after in the van."

"O-oh, heh heh." Devin stuttered, his laughs sounded full of disgust, even to him as he turned back to the black company van. "I'm officially calling permanent dibs on shotgun."

"Unless your the DD."

"What?" Devin asked, turning back around.

"Uhhh, nothing." Abs shook his head. "Wait, what was the third question? You never asked."

"Well," Devin pointed back at the dorky everything repellent. "any chance that the money for the meter is in the 'fanny-p'?"

"R-right. Yeah, great idea." Abs stuttered, opening up the pack a little too quickly and after a few moments of pretending to search Justin pulled out a few coins duller and smaller than the one around his neck. "Well whadduah know? Good call."

"Nuther fallow up there mate." Devin crossed his arms, growing a lopsided smirk. "Were you also gonna forget your wallet was in there and stick me with the tab?"

"Uhhh, look du-"

"Did you like pulling o'l roommate into your shenanigans?" Devin asked, tilting his head to the side and waving a hand at the personal trainer. "Want me to keep going... I think you're right, i would be good at improve."

"I got no doubt man. I might just not lose my ticket to that show." Abs smiled, turning away from Devin a little too quickly again as he put money in the meeter. "But today isn't about me. Its about you. This is your welcoming party, and I'm taking you to the best joint closest to our apartment." 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Well that's not exactly a high rise zip-line, but its a start."


	2. Tinderbox

Brew city: Urban Fantasy

Chapter 2- Tinderbox

"Welcome to the Tinderbox."

"_Tinderbox_?" Devin asked, looking at the neon yellow sign hanging off the side of the bar Justin was pointing at. It was a two story building made of fresh brown bricks, a 20ft section of the wall facing the street was made of mesh glass security door that rolled up into the ceiling, allowing people eat at the fenced off tables outside. "Its not the worst name for a bar I've ever heard."

"Well I'm curious."

"_The place._" Devin eyed Justin. "Ohhhhhh."

"Didn't even try." Justin shook his head. "My worst, _the money shot! _And yeah, they had the exclamation point in there."

"H-ha. Knew this place, old hole in the wall down by 3rd. They had the best ranch in town." Devin stopped, adding suspense. "_Good &*%$._"

"That joint must've really wanted shock laughs. It worked. Good on them. _Swarma my Kabobs._" Devin could only eye Justin again before the personal trainer shrugged. "It was the only one I could think of."

"Its cool." Devin shrugged back. "_Bourbon and bucket._"

"Damn." Justin cursed. "That is better."

"_Tinderbox_ is right up there. I can only guess how the bar got its name." Devin smiled, pointing up at the glowing sign. "If you're here to meet someone I'm not going to be your chauffeur."

"Not like that." Justin answered. "Its lumberjack themed, they still haul the stuff down the lakes and rivers."

"You took us to a lumberjack bar?"

"Nah-ah. I only go to places where people actually shower. No." Justin shook his head as he walked inside. "But its got great BBQ, Karaoke, and cheap meters... but yeah. People do hook up here on the app."

The inside wasn't all that different from the exterior. Matching exposed brick, rows of booths decorated to look like they were built out of logs with beige cushions, TV's at opposite ends of the bar. The place was filled with people who look like they just hit the age to drink. At the far end of it all was a short stage, an empty piano on one side and a Karaoke machine on the other. There was a skinny guy in an old lord of the rings T-shirt on the stage. His singing was so bad Devin couldn't tell what song was playing, even as the lyrics scrolled down the screen. Interestingly the guy actually had a crowd.

After getting to the actual bar and making their orders, Justin... Look, its been on TV for years now. That one wacky character in sitcoms that when they go into bars they immediately try picking up girls. Hit or miss, the results are always funny. But its one thing to see it on a screen and other to see it in real life. Once you know what you're looking at, its all kinds of hilarious. The antics are about as effective as you'd think. Some girls just stood there, some walked away, some actually gave him their numbers for the sheer novelty of his antics. He was confident throughout all of it and all of it was funny. Having a perfect tan and a personal trainer's body probably didn't hurt.

Justin tried to have Devin included in his hijinks but he quickly talked his way out of it to sit back and watch the shenanigans for the sheer entertainment. Which was better than anything they were showing on the TV's. Funny enough, neither roommate paid for a single drink the whole night. Devin was pretty sure Justin would find a way to stick him as the driver anyway, so he steered clear. As for Justin himself, well his latest stunt spoke for itself.

"I swear man, you're a much better showman than I'll ever be.". Devin joked, eating some of his nachos as Justin walked over to him. His shirt practically soaked from the latest drink dumped on him. Though Devin guessed half the reason she did it was to get Justin's shirt wet. "So, you think they'll finally kick you out of the wet T-shirt contest?"

"Meh." Justin shrugged. "The only time I was kicked out of a bar was when I pissed off a jealous girlfriend. Girl knew kickboxing, I shit you not."

"I would'ah loved to see that." Devin nodded as he ate another nacho. As he did, Justin pulled out another matching olive V-neck from his fanny pack and changed right there at the bar. Which got the personal trainer a number of looks from the girls, and a few of the guys. Justin himself just ignored them as he slipped the wet shirt into the fanny pack. "That's your whole shtick isn't it. The walking cat-nip thing."

"Ha. Hey, I'll take some nacho's too man." Justin said to the bartender, who nodded and hung up an order. "The 'class clown' act? Its about getting a good feel for the girls. For me its the best way to spot red flags. You wanna shuffle out the clingy or mean types."

"The girls last night were a wee bit clingy."

"Y-yeah." Justin nodded reluctantly. "You saw those two right? I thought it was worth it."

"Well, thanks for the free dinner and show." Devin raised up his glass of coke. "I didn't think tonight would be this fun."

Just as Justin was about to raise his beer for Devin's toast the bartender slid a drink between them both and nodded to the girl a few booth's down. Turing over to the seat- Devin had to stop himself from doing a double take. She had beautifully shiny blond hair rolling straight down her back. She had a healthy tan that complimented her smooth skin. The girl wore a bright red shirt that showed off her considerable chest along with a bright orange skirt that did nothing to cover her long curvy legs. Oh, and a pair of brown cowboy boots. The girl waved a hand at them as she held her own drink in the other. The girl looked like she belonged on the nose of a world war two bomber.

"So," Justin asked. "who do you think she gave the drink to? The bartender didn't say."

"Just go talk to her, walking catnip." Devin leaned back on the bar. "Uber money first though."

"I'm flattered," Justin jokingly laid a hand over his chest. "I don't know what's gonna happen. Her place. Mine. Maybe nothing. Who knows."

"Uh-huh." Devin looked back at the girl on the booth who winked at them. "Have fun man."

"Later dude." Justin smiled, handing Devin the cash.

"Any red flags. You think she's a screamer, go to her place." Devin smiled, pocketing the cash. Justin barked out a laugh, eating one of Devin's nacho's as he walked over to the booth. "You're a character man."

Turning back around to the bar Devin back to his nacho's he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. Pulling it out, Devin saw the familiar wavy blond hair, cute button nose, and warm green eyes in the picture through the text on his phone.

"_I miss you._" Devin read aloud. He sighed as he texted back. "I miss you too."

Looking for any kind of distraction, Devin looked around the bar and spotted the karaoke guy. Still on the stand where he last saw him, but he looked like he was done singing as he shut off the machine, shoved a handful of his own chips in his mouth before sliding his backpack on. Almost looked like he was in a hurry. Though he noticed that the guy was eyeing something behind Devin hard.

Turning back to the booth, Devin could see Justin talking to the girl, both of them were smiling as a waiter delivered Justin's nacho's. It was no surprise what the guy was eyeing now. Devin had to stop himself from looking down at the girl's chest when she laughed. Turning back again to the bar, Devin started feeling weird. Maybe it was that he turned into a third wheel. Maybe because someone was now singing 'California girls' at the Karaoke and was somehow worse than the lord of the rings guy... maybe it was the now soggy nachos.

It was because he was alone. Devin hated being alone.

Sighing, Devin paid for the nachos and headed for the door. Texting Justin that he was definitely taking the girl back to her place. Standing on the corner next to a hydrant, Devin pulled out his carton from his back pocket as he hit the uber app on his phone. Just as Devin did, he saw both Justin and the girl walk out of the bar behind him. Justin gave Devin a nod as he walked on toward the van. Devin nodded back shaking his head.

Just as Devin pulled out a cigarette, he spotted the karaoke guy practically jump out of the bar, clearly giggling with a weird look on his face. The karaoke guy shuffled off his backpack as he ran off into the dark alley on the bar's side and out of sight. Tilting his head at this, Devin heard the door to the van close just a bit down the street. Turning over for a look, Devin could see the smiling girl drag a confused Justin away before she whispered into his ear. She must've said something very nice, because Justin grew an eagerly goofy smile on his face as well as she lead him into the same dark alley.

"Nothing weird. Nothing weird about a giggling weirdo crawling over to lurk into a dark alley." Devin said, lighting up his cigarette and taking a puff, Devin shifted his gaze from the bar to the van and then the alley. Letting out the intake with a sigh, the smoke trailed out his nose as Devin shook his head. "Where a nice young couple unwittingly stumbled into. Sounds like an opening of a bad horror story. Wait, was the girl in the couple a pretty white blond with a big chest. Yes, yes she was... why am I still talking?"

Devin shut his mouth as he turned toward the alley, taking another hit as he waved off his uber when he saw it coming down the road. The second Devin was close enough to peak around the side the alley was exactly what anyone would expect, Justin making out with the girl. A few half full garbage cans on one side and a brick wall on the other. His uber gone and hiding in the shadows watching a couple about to get it on...Devin felt like a paranoid stupid creep. There was nothing to worry about. Devin quietly took another inhale of his cig as he pulled out his phone.

"Can you show me your fire trick?" The girl asked.

"O-oh, yeah." Justin answered back. "You're gonna love it."

Curious himself, Devin looked up from his phone and saw Justin pull out a small bottle from his fanny pack along with a lighter. Justin popped off the cork and dumped the contents in his mouth before spitting it out over the flame of his lighter. The arc of bright yellow flame burned about an arms length in the air down into the alley. Devin wasn't even in the front row seat and was impressed. But in that brief moment of light exposed the karaoke guy standing just a few feet beyond the couple in the shadows. Staring hard at the couple with the same grimacing smile on his face, showing his teeth. The couple were clearly too distracted to see him. Putting his phone away, Devin walked into the alley.

"Cool! That as so awesome Jerry." The girl cheered, a big smile on her face as she grabbed her bandanna. "Time for my trick."

That's when things just got weird.

The impossibly beautiful girl that belonged on the nose of the Enola Gay disappeared, and in her place stood a monster that would give the clown from IT nightmares. Gone was the perfectly tan skin of a valley girl as it was replaced with the sickly gray green hide. Her formerly long golden locks fell off her head, leaving only a crusty scalp with a few matted silver wisps. An eye was missing, leaving only a dark hole of nothingness. Even her clothes had changed. Instead of looking fresh off the rack, they appeared as if they were fished out of an abandoned sewer. Matted and torn, dark gray with blotches of brown with only hints of color remaining.

Devin couldn't see Justin's face, but he knew that the personal trainer was paralyzed with fear. Devin himself wasn't far behind him. The only movement between them both was when Devin dropped his cigarette.

"Do you like my trick?" The girl asked, her voice raspy with a ravenously hungry yet teasing tone.

"T-trick? O-oh, its a trick." Justin breathed, clear relief in his voice. "Of course its a trick. A-are you some kind of illugauhst- um, Illusionist?"

"Hmm." The girl rolled her _one_ eye away in a somehow thoughtful motion before looking back at Justin with a smile, what few teeth she had were black, yellow, and green. "I guess."

"W-w-well, I'm impressed." Justin stammered, nodding nervously. "I know you 'performer' types don't tell, but wholly crap. You went form gorgeous to an extra on one of those zombie shows. How'd you do it?"

"Oh, my super cute BFF handles that." The girl answered, her voice as raspy as dead leafs but she was as giddy as ever. "Its not as much work as you think Joey."

"R-really?" Justin tilted his head to one side then back again, clearly shifting his gaze from a milky pussball to an empty hole. "Well you've got some make-up gal. You really had me going there. I mean... _the smell_."

"Awwwwwe, thanks." The girl winked at Justin, or just blinked. Devin couldn't tell. "It tottes took a lot for me to get like that. The girl at the mall gave me all this stuff to smell like cherries."

"Uh," Justin stepped back, holding a hand over his face, probably his nose. "I meant the horrible rotten stench."

"Okay, that's enough." Devin said, walking up to the couple. "Sorry for interrupting man."

"Dude, what are you doing?" Just asked.

"No, no, no." The girl shot off excitedly, her voice so raspy it was hard for either of them to hear. "Let him join in."

"Huh?" Justin asked, Devin raised an eyebrow at the dead looking girl. "What?"

"I'm hungry." The girl answered, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "More the merrier."

"Wow," Devin blinked as the girl's crusted beef jerky like tongue slided out of her mouth and licked her cracked leathery lips. Okay, licked was the wrong word. It was more like scraped. "she is really committed to the bit. But I'm not here to get involved in, whatever this is. I'm here for this."

Devin stepped past Justin and the girl as he set his phone to flashlight mode and lit up the alley behind them. As it turns out, it wasn't what Devin was expecting. It was even stranger. Devin expected the murder scene in batman begins, where the desperate criminal kills a young couple in an alley. Instead Devin was seeing the 'no good deed' scene in Logan where Deadpool spends the whole scene trying to squeeze into his costume while inside of a phone booth. It was the same lord of the rings guy from the bar, or at least Devin thought as his face was partly covered, though he could see enough of the golden ring design on the T-shirt. The guy was trying to slip on what appeared to be a moss green robe, but it somehow got bunched up halfway down his abdomen, as he was hunched over trying to pull it down. Next to him on the floor appeared to be a long wooden stick and a book.

It wasn't exactly like the scene with Deadpool, but it was close enough.

"In the hell?" Justin asked, clearly surprised.

"What are you doing here?" Devin asked, shining the light of his phone onto him.

"Hey Lenny." The girl said, the sound of her cowboy boots clicking against the concrete floor behind Devin. The guy, or 'lenny' stopped shifting as his eyes grew wide as they gazed in the girl's direction before he turned away and heaved. Given her appearance in the bar, and how tight her shirt was both then and now, Devin could only guess where Lenny was looking as the girl bounced. "Hi."

"C-come on." Lenny said, pulling at his bunched up robe before tripping over himself and falling down. "Damn it."

"What's he doing?" Justin asked. "Whats going on?"

"Oh," Devin looked back, the girl shifting her single eyed gaze between him and Justin. "Lenny likes making big enterences."

"Entrances." Justin corrected. "Why?"

"I dunno." The girl shrugged, smiling at the both of them. "Lenny's got this thing for pretty boys. Like you two... or he hates them. Kinda hard to tell with Lenny."

"What do you get out of this..." Devin asked, gesturing between the girl and Lenny as squirmed on the floor, still trying to pull down his robe which he somehow got down to his knees but still couldn't move. "Thing?"

"Oh, its super fun." The girl answered, winking at Devin. That or she just blinked again, Devin still couldn't tell. "Plus free meals."

"Ooookay." Devin said, shifting his gaze from the one eyed girl to Justin, who's blank stare shifted to an eager nod. Devin nodded back as he slowly backed up and toward the front of the alley. Never breaking eye contact with the girl, as her smile and gaze never waved from him. "Well, _this_ sounds like a great show. But me and Justin are gonna skedaddle."

"Ah-ha! Success." Lenny said, hopping to his feet. Falling right back over as he did. The only difference was that he was on his other side. Standing up slowly now, leaning heavily on the stick with one hand as he held a book in the other. "Th-there will be no leaving, you braggabobus barbarians."

"Braging pompous?" Justin asked, looking at Devin before shifting back at Lenny. "Brack and Colus? Those aren't our names."

"I think he meant braggadocios." Devin raised his eyebrow at the guy who was clearly taking his lord of the rings cosplay way too far.

"Yeah," The girl nodded, her voice so raspy and low Devin could barely make out the word. "Lenny likes big silly words. I don't know what they mean a lotta the time, but they sound funny."

"Enough!" Lenny shouted, pointing his stick at them though still leaning on it. "I only needed one sacrifice, but the other has learned too much and must parish as well."

"Turning away from you, not engaging." Devin said, pointing at the guy in a robe holding a stick to the one eyed dead looking girl and spoke as softly and nonthreatening as he could. "I know you and _L__enny_ are really into...whatever this is, but me and Justin aren't. Sorry. I hope you two do find someone who is interested in _this_."

"Fools! There is no escape." Lenny said, opening the book. "I am not _L__enny_. I am Ser Leonard the green. Warlock of the wicked water. Dresden of the dread darkness. Wizard of wallop willow- Dagnabbit."

At the end of his little speech Devin turned off the light from his phone and shoved it in his pocket. Leaving only the light from the street corner shine in for visibility. There was barely enough light for Devin, Justin, and the girl to see each other and at best Devin could only see Lenny's outline. There was no possible way Lenny could read that far into the shadows. Tilting his head, Devin could see that same outline pat around himself before hiking up his robe on the right side and pull something out of his hip area. Probably his pocket. Then suddenly clear white light erupted from a square at Lenny's mouth as he looked down at his book, his phone most likely, before he tried to mumble something and dropped it.

"Curses."

"This is just sad. We're out of here." Justin shook his head turning toward the street, but as he did the girl reached for his arm. Justin just barely pulled away in time before she touched him. "Hey."

"Wait. I really want you both to stay." The girl said, her raspy voice clinched in a higher whine, sticking out her chest as he brushed her arms against the sides of her breasts. Normally, that'd probably be enough for Justin. Hell, even Devin if the girl still looked like she did back in the bar. But now in the dark alley, she was a one eyed monstrosity who's skin looked more like bad salami than anything else. So when she tried that trick, all she did was make the boys cringe. "Its gonna get really fun."

"Its always the crazy ones." Justin cringed, looking anywhere but at the girl as he backed away.

"Lenny they're leaving."

"W-what?" Leonard asked in the darkness, clear confusion in his voice. Almost sounding as if he forgot they were there. That changed quickly as the confusion was swapped out by embarrassed anger. "N-no! Stop them."

"Ohhh, fun." The girl cooed, reaching out for Justin's right arm.

Only for the personal trainer to effortlessly back up his talk of tai chi by redirecting the dead looking girl's grasping arms with barely a few touches. Devin himself added to this, grabbing a nearby trash can and rolling it into Lindsay's path. Tripping the undead looking girl and landing on her face. Worried, Devin pulled out his phone and shined its light on her only to see that the zombie show extra barely seemed to notice her landing and with no hint of pain as she sat back up before turning to them... At which point Devin could see that her one remaining eye had popped out, both of her eye sockets now just pools of empty all consuming darkens- which the bright white light from Devin's phone did nothing to change. Almost as if the artificial illumination was being absorbed or canceled out. Just staring at those bottomless black voids made Devin feel like he was staring into an open grave, a grave he knew belonged to him and was waiting. Thankfully Devin was quickly pulled out of his trance when the girl popped the milky white puss ball she had for an eye back into its socket, staring right at Devin and then to Justin.

"Rude."

"Oh. My. God." Justin said, his voice a blended mix between sheer reality denying disbelief and mind crushing fear. Devin was right there with him. Every fiber of his being was telling Devin to run away screaming, but for some reason his legs- his whole body wouldn't move. "This can't be real."

"NO!" Leonard shouted in the darkness behind them. While there was plenty of outrage and anger, his outburst sounded more like a kid who had his favorite Christmas present taken away after finding the right batteries to make it work than anything else. "No. No. No. This isn't how this night was supposed to go!"

Unfortunately the urban cosplayer's whiny tantrum was more than enough of a distraction, as even though Devin's body couldn't move, his gaze could. Shifting from a light bathed horror to a darkness cloaked comedy act. So when his back slammed hard against the cold hard floor of the dark alley, the only clue how Devin got there was the crippling pain of a vice grip around his right ankle. Tilting his head up, Devin could see the undead girl happily moving her head toward his right thigh. Panicking, Devin sat up and slugged the petite former supermodel looking girl across the face under her empty eye as hard as he could... and it did nothing.

That wasn't true, it gave the girl the perfect low hanging fruit. The undead girl tried biting into his wrist and surly would have if Devin's fist wasn't in her blind spot. Giving Devin just enough to pull away from her jaw's crunch, but unfortunately not her arm's reach. Just like before, the same crushing agony that had pulled Devin to the ground was doing the same to his wrist, worse because he didn't have the same layer of muscle for some kind of padding. On pure instinct to get away from the torment, Devin tried pulling away. Unfortunately, either the adrenaline gave Devin enough strength or the undead girl was still light enough to pull herself across his body and into his shoulder. Knocking both back on the floor. Fortunately the girl was either too surprised or too slow to catch on and Devin pushed her off without giving her an opportunity and caught her other free wrist when she made another grab at him.

With the both of them on their sides, Devin did everything he could to keep the girl away while she did everything she could to close the gap, of which she had a distinct advantage. Her absurd grip. Through the pain Devin could feel the bones in his wrist actually bending to Lindsay's unnatural strength. More than that, when Devin fell his phone dropped out of his grasp and landed right next to him. Its light was enough to show Devin exactly what he was looking at more than ever before in the dark alley.

Before, Devin believed that Lindsay's undead appearance was just a trick. Good make up with some Hollywood special effects. Something. Even during the brief moment Devin saw the girl pop back in her eyeball, he could still lie to himself into believing it was all fake. That wasn't possible now. Because now Devin was up close and personal to her mouth, he could see inside it. Even if there was some fake teeth or other prosthetic, more than that there was no faking the smell. It was exactly what you'd expect if all the teeth were rotten and black, the gums little more than shriveled jerky, the only fluids anyone could see were puss and grease. There was no lying or faking any of that.

The pain. The fear. It was all too much.

Devin screamed.

"Holy Shit!"

Justin yelled dashing next to them, pulling out some small red tube from his fanny pack and through the light of his phone Devin saw a mist spray out of its tip and into the girl's face... and it did nothing. That wasn't true. A moment after Devin's eyes started watering, it became hard to breath and he started coughing uncontrollably. Suddenly the same vice like clamp dug into his shoulder... and that's when the pain really started.

Now Devin had gotten hurt before, but no more than an average kid growing up. He'd had broken bones, gotten into some accidents, taken a few scrapes. This was nothing like that. It reminded Devin of biting into an apple- no, an onion. Where the first bite where the teeth went down layer after layer and when you pulled back there might've been some resistance but ultimately it was broken off. Only now wasn't a vegetable, it was him. It was too painful to scream and if Devin hadn't been crying before he was now as he did everything he could push the gril off of him, but if anything it just made the pain worse and easier for her to rip a chunk out of his shoulder.

"Yesss!" Leonard gloated. "Yes, this is your fate. Let it happen. Let death, your mistress, consume you. It is for a greater cause."

"Screw that!" Justin bellowed, more fear than bravado in his voice.

Devin himself couldn't see what was going on, his vision had disappeared shortly after the pain in his shoulder arrived, but his hearing was still there. Devin heard a loud padding sound not far from his face, near where the hurt in his shoulder was. It didn't effect his pain, that part was now gone, mercifully. But what Devin did feel was inside of his shoulder, near or on top of some kind of boney tubes Devin could feel inside himself but couldn't think on what they were, digging in and ripping apart something more and more with each new round of the padding sound. Right up until he hard a snap. Then the pressure on his shoulder was gone fallowed by another thud under him.

Blinking rapidly as his vision returned, Devin could see the back alley from the ground up. Devin tried to tilt his head to see better but his neck, his whole body refused to move. Peaking best he could, Devin could see the undead girl was also on her side like he was, but she could move. A fear Devin couldn't understand flared up inside him, every fiber of his being told him to run, but like before his body refused to move. Now facing them Devin could see that Lindsay's face was even more decrepit than before, her lower jaw had been snapped off. Leaving only decayed pieces of leathery skin behind and the bones exposed.

"Gah-gruhh, ge-glahh." The beef jerkly like tongue rattled inside of what remained of the girl's mouth, bouncing between her teeth, the top of her mouth and wiggling as it searched for the bottom. A black and milky white substance started dribbling out of the open hole as the tongue slithered. Lindsay's eye darted between Devin and Justin before rolling around the bottom of the alley, as if she was searching for something. "Ahh, gogreblew."

"Not fair! Not fair!" Lenny whined, stomping on the ground. "You're breaking the rules."

Once again Leonard's tantrum was what broke the trance that kept the other's paralyzed, even freeing Devin's body from its paralysis. Though, just because Devin was now free to move didn't mean he could do it well. Devin found himself too dizzy to do more than get to his knees and lean against a nearby wall with his good arm. The same fear gripped Devin again as he saw Lindsay reach for him yet another time. Luckily Justin did not hesitate and using the same trash can that Devin had slammed it into the undead girl's decaying face knocking her a good few feet back.

"No! No more cheating."

Leonard whined yet again, but this time fallowed by a brilliant golden glow. Its surprise- no. Sheer presence forced Devin to turns his gaze back at the urban cosplayer. Lenny had finally found the book from earlier and holding it open in front of him. The pages themselves where shooting out a yellow beam of light like a watch tower. Devin could barely turn away even though it was hurting his eyes, even though he wanted to, even though he knew he should. But he couldn't. He couldn't so much as think of anything else. Not where he was, why he was there, or even his own name. Only the enchanting ethereal glow from the book.

Then there was sound that matched the light, but it was anything but enchanting. It was the scraping of a chalk board, the snap of broken bones, the screech of an injured of a dying animal. It was all in the form of something close to a laugh, but never could be. Breaking his bound gaze to the golden light, Devin looked up to see Leonard's face... it made the cackling sound like a church bell. Leonard's eyes were a solid shade of a color Devin didn't know. A color he couldn't know. A color he knew he shouldn't know. Leonard's teeth were a solid bone white, as if everything on them over the years had been scrapped away, leaving only the skeleton behind. The veins in his face were shining through his skin with the same unnatural color as his eyes which only appeared to be pulsating at his heart rate. All this was with a smile. A smile that was too long, too wide, to angular to ever belong to a man. But this wasn't a man. It was a monster that should never have been allowed to walk the earth wearing one's skin.

"Y-yes. Yes!" Leonard wheezed, as if he couldn't quite catch his breath as he waved out his hand. "F-fools. Let go of your f-fear. B-be proud. Y-you will ach-achieve more this ni-night... oh- This night than you ever wo-would in your worthless lives."

Leonard looked down from Devin and Justin to his book, his lips moved and short mumbling sounds fallowed as the book's glow strengthened. But then something happened. Leonard's face shifted from maddened glee to surprise before he was thrown back into the alley fallowed by a chilling gust of wind hurled Devin out and into the street, the brilliant light gone.

"Devin!"

Devin heard his name but he didn't know where it came from. Looking to the side, Devin could see a young man in a green shirt racing to him. He looked scared. Devin didn't know why. The young man looked like he was trying to say something, but Devin couldn't hear anything anymore. Devin didn't know why. Then everything became fuzzier and out of focus before everything faded to darkness.


End file.
